Change VoiceOver Verbosity settings (Announcements tab) in VoiceOver Utility on Mac
Use the Announcements tab of the Verbosity category in VoiceOver Utility to specify when you want VoiceOver to announce certain events, such as when a modifier key is pressed, and when to speak certain text, such as labels in dialogues.
To open VoiceOver Utility, press Command-F5 to turn VoiceOver on, then press VO-Fn-F8.
To navigate the different tabs in Verbosity, press the Left Arrow or Right Arrow key after you hear “Verbosity” until you hear the setting you want to edit — like Announcements.
Note: VO represents the VoiceOver modifier that you press with additional keys to enter VoiceOver commands. By default, you can press Control and Option together or just press Caps Lock.
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Announce when mouse cursor enters a window | Hear when the pointer goes to a window. This setting is useful if you use the mouse pointer independently of the VoiceOver cursor and keyboard focus. |
Announce when a modifier key is pressed | Hear when you press a modifier key. This setting is useful while you learn VoiceOver commands and want to confirm the keys you press. |
Announce when the Caps Lock key is pressed | Hear when you press the key that makes all letters uppercase. This setting is useful if you press the key inadvertently and are typing everything in uppercase. To be able to use the Caps Lock key for typing uppercase letters when the VoiceOver modifier is set to Caps Lock, quickly press the Caps Lock key twice. |
Speak header when navigating across a table row | Hear header text in a table row. This setting is useful for identifying the type of content in a row. |
Automatically speak text in dialogue boxes | Hear labels and other text in dialogues. |
Speak Zoom magnification changes | Hear when the magnification level for zoom changes. |
Speak VoiceOver cursor magnification changes | Hear when the magnification level for the VoiceOver cursor changes. |
When status text changes under VoiceOver cursor | Choose how you want to hear changes in status text (such as the percentage complete of an app installation): Play Tone, Speak Text or Do Nothing. |
When progress indicator changes under VoiceOver cursor | Choose how you want to hear progress indicator changes: Play Tone, Speak Update or Do Nothing. |
When number of rows change under VoiceOver cursor | Choose how you want to hear that rows are being added or removed: Play Tone, Speak Update or Do Nothing. |
When system dialogues are displayed | Choose how you want to hear that system dialogues (such as alerts) are being displayed: Play Tone, Speak & Play Tone or Do Nothing. If you choose Play Tone or Speak & Play Tone, VoiceOver notifies you every 30 seconds that a system dialogue is displayed. You can quickly access system dialogues using the Window Chooser (press VO-Fn-F2-F2). |
Speak size and position in | Choose how you want to hear size and position: Inches, Millimetres or Points. |
Speak text under mouse after delay | Have VoiceOver wait for several seconds before speaking the text that’s under the pointer. To set how many seconds VoiceOver waits, drag the slider towards Short or Long. |
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